El Zorro: Balkans 11: Mostar ( 巴爾幹半島之行11 :莫斯塔爾)

After Belgrade, we had to go to another small town, Mostar the fifth largest city in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But we had lots of mountains and rivers to pass through.

It was quite cloudy. As we had a lot of distance to cover, we had to leave quite early. When it was time for our first rest stop, it was still quite early, the mist on the river had not yet dissipated.

The mist on the river

we passed through a quiet river

Its water was crystal clear and the surrounding hills green and fresh

We passed through some craggy karst mountains

You can see the folds

How twisted they look

they rise up starkly against the sky

All around us were mountains, mountains and more mountains

Our first glimpse of Mostar, its Franciscan church, towering above the city.It's a small city with slightly more than 113, 000 people and is the most important cultural capital and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation, situated on the Neretva river. The city got its name from the "bridge keepers" (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the middle ages. It used to be a wooden bridge leading to the market on the left bank of the Neretva River f traders, travelers and soldiers but was rebuilt and fortified by the Ottomans between 1520 and 1566 after they took over control of the city in 1468. It's one of Bosnia-Herzegovina's most recognizable landmarks, and is considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans. There were already settlements there in Roman times. The Turks were in control until 1878 Treaty of Berlin after the Austro-Hungarian Empire defeated the Turks. The Germans were in control until after WWI when it became part of Yugoslavia. Between 1992 and 1993, after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, it was shelled by Serbian for a year and half. According to a census in 1991, the town had more than 43,000 Muslims, an equal number of Croatians and half that number of Serbians with a smattering of Yugoslavs and other minorities. The town has the only Croatian speaking university in the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the University of Mostar with close to 10,000 students. The town population lives on tourism, metal working, aluminium, cotton and textile mills.Along with Sarajevo, it is the largest financial center in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with two out of three largest banks in the country having their headquarters in Mostar.

A broken down building, nothing but façade. We were given a tour of the old town built in the 15th century, when the Turks took over the city on one side of the river . On the other side, it was all Christians. The two were joined by the so-called Old Bridge.

Colorful ladies shawls

More scarves with dishes

A view of the new bridge from the Old Bridge

As it had been raining, one could see the mud

The Christian side of the river

The Muslim side of the river. In the background you can see Koski Mehmed Paša Mosque, built in 1617

Both sides of the river

Part of the old Muslim town

New building by the side of the old

A small hotel

The narrow street was lined with shops selling souvenirs including those selling grim reminders of darker times: carved bullet shells and bullet shell models

happiers souvenirs

Jugs, jars, trestles, grinder, teapot and cups, even old fashioned irons!

Pots, basins, lamps, carpets and traditional musical instruments and miscellaneous medals, necklaces and trinkets

lamps and colorful plates all with traditional mosaics

Tradtional wind pipes and flutes

Lacy ladies apparel

Embroidery and beads

fancy lacy handbags

part of the building was hacked out from the rocks

The roof tiles were also made of rocks

A restaurant on the way up

a young girl playing her electronic toy or texting whilst the older man was also reading his text message !

a view of the old bridge, with two fortresses one on each side, known as the
Halebinovka and Tara Towers. It was declared by the UN as a World Heritage in July 2005.

Food prices for various dishes. Mostar cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. Traditional Mostar food is closely related to Turkish, Middle Eastern and other Mediterranean cuisines but also some German and Central Europe culinary influences. Some of the famous dishes include ćevapčići, burek, sarma, japrak, musaka, dolma, sujuk, sač, đuveč, and sataraš and local desserts include baklava, hurmašice, sutlijaš, tulumbe, tufahije, and šampita. But we had no time to sample any of them.